The present invention relates to a communications system for telephone and data communication, as well as to a method for monitoring a group call number of such a communications system.
Communications systems such as, for example, program-controlled private branch exchanges (PBXs) for local (analog and digital) telephone and data communication have components which enable analog and digital terminals to be connected to the communications system. Due to the computer structure normally used today in such a communications system, the terminals can be provided with a large number of features by the communications system.
In contrast to a service attribute, a feature is a function of a terminal. The feature possibly may be independent of services and offer functions which are additional to the normal base functions of the terminal; for example, for the purpose of easier, faster or simpler operation.
In particular, such features relate to service attributes in the field of telephone traffic with analog and digital (ISDN) exchange connections. Thus, for example, numerous variants of the delivery and forwarding of incoming calls to the terminals connected to the communications system, such as line groups or group call numbers, night service connections, call forwarding, call duplications, operator positions, etc., can be implemented as features.
For example, a subscriber at a terminal can use a function “call log” as a feature. In this feature, the call number of a caller is stored if he/she encounters a busy signal or if the called party has not accepted the call because he/she was absent or occupied. The telephone numbers of all calls which were not accepted can be indicated on the terminal and the subscriber can choose whether one of these numbers is to be used for a callback (without typing in the complete call number). For example, the number currently indicated or marked in the log is automatically dialed when the receiver is taken off-hook.
Furthermore, various directory functions and/or notebook functions can be used as features by a subscriber at a terminal. Thus, for example, it is possible that a telephone number mentioned during a conversation is typed into the terminal and temporarily stored. Once the current conversation has ended, this call number can be selected and dialed by a simple key stroke.
It is typical of such features that, to implement them in the communications system, a special software is processed which generally uses the parameters allocated for this purpose (control information data/feature data) which are stored unambiguously addressably for the respective feature in a memory of the communications system. These data are also administered by software which is set up for this purpose.
Configuring, using and/or monitoring the features requires displaying the associated parameters, changing them and/or activating or deactivating the corresponding function of the feature. The access to a memory required for this purpose, in which the associated control information data/feature data are stored, is performed, on the one hand, via the terminals of the switching system. A proprietary transmission protocol is used for such an access to the memory.
In addition to a terminal, a computer can be allocated via the communications system to a subscriber at his/her workstation. In the literature, an interface between the communications system and application programs running on the computer is called CTI (Computer Telephone Integration). CTI is basically related to the control of all telephony functions at a workstation via the computer arranged there.
A number of standards have been developed for transmitting information via a CTI interface; for example, the TAPI (Telephony Applications Programming Interface) standard. Via current CTI application interfaces, for example CSTA ECMA Phase III/TAPI 3.0, it is possible to monitor the state and/or a transmission of state changes for a particular terminal. However, the control functions are restricted inasmuch as only a single terminal can be monitored.
In medium-sized and large companies, work is usually organized in groups, departments or areas which are, in each case, responsible for certain tasks and processes. In many cases, it is also desirable to carry out the telephone traffic of such smaller units of a company or of a facility with particular common features and, if necessary, to determine and monitor such commonalties in the operation of a communications system.
From U.S. Pat. No. 4,953,204, a method and a system for call processing of incoming calls for a service provider is known, in which the service provider has a number of ACD (Automatic Call Distribution) units. If no lines to the ACD units are available, an incoming call is inserted into one or more available queues. One or more of these queues allow the call to be forwarded to an arbitrary ACD unit as soon as an agent of an ACD unit becomes available.
From German laid open specification DE 100 10 462 A1, a method for a status request of a communication device belonging to a subscriber group is known. In this document, a status inquiry, initiated from an operators station which is connected to a first exchange, for setting up a connection via a second exchange to the communication device belonging to the subscriber group, is directed from the first exchange to the second exchange via an existing signaling path.
From German laid open specifications DE 100 25 437 A1, DE 100 25 438 A1 and DE 199 55 760 A1, a method and a communication arrangement for implementing subscriber features is known in each case, with at least a part of the subscriber lines allocated to at least two switching systems and having configured features being allocated to a group. The group is controlled from one of the switching systems, with subscriber lines not allocated physically to this switching system being allocated to this as virtual subscriber lines.
In existing communications systems and CTI applications, such groups only can be determined and monitored by individually interrogating the terminals of all members of the structural unit in a cumbersome and time-consuming manner.
The present invention is, therefore, directed toward a communications system with extended functionality which enables common features of terminals of subscribers collaborating in structural units to be monitored and adjusted in a simplified and faster manner.